Very Different, But Still The Same
by immortalsoul273
Summary: After losing Sophia, everyone in the group was frantically searching for her, then one day, a woman approaches the farm with a healthy and safe Sophia and everyone immediately welcomed her; she's grown close to everyone individually and became an asset to the group, but she grows closer to a particular, crossbow wielding, individual that has it's ups and downs. Daryl/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, this is the first time I'm actually going to make a fanfic about a tv show that's not animated, and so I might mess up a little on the episodes, but I'll try. This takes place in season two and this is my own story that takes place between **_**Secrets**_** and **_**Pretty Much Dead Already, **_**but once I'm done with this, I'm going to write about **_**Pretty Much Dead Already**_**. So I hope you enjoy, and it might be a little fast in the beginning when I introduce my OC, so sorry.**

It's been hard for everyone, trying to find Sophia, and Daryl got hurt real bad when he went out on his own, and Carol was still real depressed and desperate to hope she came home safely. Nobody could find a trace of her, Shane and Andrea even went out to a nearby town and looked in some houses, but had didn't find anything.

And not only looking for Sophia was happening now, tensions and danger levels were rising against the group and the Greene family. Right now, it was only noon and everyone was just doing what they normally did, they plotted where they should look now or just lazed around the camp site. Daryl was even up and about already, even though most of the group protested on how he should rest.

"You shouldn't be walking around, you're still recovering from your wounds" Carol advised.

"I'll be fine, like these kind of injuries aren't gonna keep me down" Daryl objected.

"She's right" Rick agreed, "You got an arrow to your side and a shot to the head, you need to rest for a while"

"Well you kind of need me, I'm the only one who can track" Daryl informed.

"That's why we're going to check some of the towns and houses to double check and so you can rest" Rick said. Before Daryl could protest, they heard Dale shouting from on top of the Winnebago.

"Guys Guys! Come look!" Dale urged excitedly, climbing down from the RV.

When everyone had gathered around, Dale suddenly handed Carol his binoculars and he pointed down towards the woods. She looked through the binoculars and gasped, covering her mouth in shocked and tears started to leak down her face.

Everyone was looking to where she was looking and saw two figures walking out of the forest, they could barely see who they were, but one was very small and the other was only a little taller than the other. When Carol handed Dale his binoculars back, she started to run.

"Sophia!" Carol shouted. When everyone heard her shout that name, they started to follow her.

"Mom!" Sophia shouted and started to run as well, leaving the person she was with behind.

Sophia soon ran into her mother's arms and they both broke down crying, holding each other tightly. The group soon made it to the two and so did the figure that brought Sophia back.

The person was a woman, she had a petite height and looked young, in her early twenties, she had waist length auburn hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a white tank top and black cargo shorts with black leather combat boots; strapped to her back was also a Mossberg 590 "Compact Cruiser" and attached to the small of her back horizontally was an 18 inch black sheath of a machete.

She had a small smile on her lips as she watched Carol and Sophia hug and cry and saying they love each other and that they missed each other very much.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Rick asked, approaching the woman.

"My name is Echo" she reached her hand out for his to shake. Rick accepted her hand and gave a kind smile.

"Rick; thank you, thank you so much for keeping Sophia safe" Rick said with a big smile.

"Thank you for bringing my daughter back home!" Carol cried, calming down a bit, but continued to hold Sophia. Echo smiled warmly and walked towards Carol and Sophia and kneeled down to their level.

"It's ok now, I'm just happy to see Sophia back to where she belongs" Echo said. Carol smiled and gave Echo and hug, she was surprised at first, but she smiled and hugged her back.

"Can you stay for a while Echo?" Sophia asked, wiping her tears from her cheeks. Echo pulled out of the hug and looked at her with uncertainty.

"Oh, uh, I don't know, I don't want to impose on your group" Echo stammered.

"Please, it's the least we can do after you saved her" Rick insisted.

Echo looked around at the group and gave a small smile and nodded. Carol and Sophia soon stood up with Echo and everyone walked back to the camp site; they all sat around the campfire and introduced themselves and had a small lunch.

"So how did you find Sophia?" Glenn asked.

_Sophia continued to run, trying to get away from the three walkers that were following her, but she was running out of breath and barely had a rest, but she continued to run. When she only stopped to take a breather for a second, she felt a grip on her arm and she turned to see a male walker and she started to scream and cry; she tried to get out of the walkers grip as he tried to bite her, but his grip was too strong. _

_Just as his teeth were close to her shoulder, a shot was heard and the walker's grip loosened and he fell to the ground. Sophia stopped crying and looked around and saw that there was a woman holding a 9mm gun in her hand, the woman placed her gun back in her back pants and ran towards Sophia. When she got to her, she kneeled down and placed her hands on her shoulders. _

_"Are you ok, he didn't bite you?" the woman asked worriedly, looked over Sophia to make sure she was alright. _

_Sophia was still shocked and upset, so she couldn't answer, but she nodded and calmed down, but when she heard moaning and grunts, her fears shot up and she looked back and saw the walkers coming their way. The woman removed her Compact Cruiser and machete and held it in one hand and swirled around so her back was facing Sophia. _

_"Get on!" the woman said quickly. _

_Sophia didn't need to be told twice and jumped on the woman's back; the woman stood up and started to run fast. She only ran for a few minutes before she stopped at a tree; Sophia looked up and saw that there were two duffle bags and a red and black backpack hanging from the branches. _

_"Start climbing" the woman ordered. _

_Sophia grabbed onto the branches and started to climb until she made it to where the bags were hanging. When Sophia looked down, she saw that the woman was still down there and she hung her Compact Cruiser on a branch and unsheathe her machete, revealing a black steel blade. _

_When the walkers caught up to her, she didn't turn until they were close and she swung her sword to slice half of a walkers face off, then she gave a roundhouse kick to another walker, knocking it down and then she stabbed the third walker between the eyes, the she finished the last one by stabbing it in the top of the head. The woman swung some of the blood on her blade off and placed it back in her sheath, then she grabbed her gun and started to climb up to Sophia. Once she was there, she leaned against the tree to take a breather, and then she turned her attention to Sophia. _

_"Are you ok?" she asked again. _

_Sophia nodded and wiped her tears, then when she calmed down, she looked at the woman, "Thank you for saving me" _

_"It's no problem, I'm just glad to know you weren't bit; I'm Echo" Echo said, holding her hand out. _

_"I'm Sophia" Sophia said, smiling for the first time in a while and shook Echo's hand._

Echo described the first half, but when it came up to when they got to the tree, Sophia took the action into her hands, seeming very excited about it.

"That's amazing" Lori gasped.

"It wasn't that amazing" Echo denied, smiling shyly as she sat beside of Sophia and Carol.

"Of course it was amazing, the way you took the walkers down and saved Sophia!" Carl said excitedly.

Echo smiled and chuckled a little. Everyone continued to talk and have a good time, Rick even introduced the Greene family to her and she offered to help out around the farm. Then while Echo was playing a little with Sophia and Carl with Carol and Lori standing by, a black and grey cat jumped in Echo's lap.

"Nuna!" Sophia gasped excitedly and started to pet the cat.

"You have a cat?" Carl asked, petting the cat as well.

"Yeah, I found her in a dumpster and decided to bring her along with me; she usually hangs around for a while, but she goes off every now and then" Echo explained, scratching Nuna's ears and smiled as she purred loudly.

The day continued by and everyone was real happy, now having Sophia back safely and a new addition to the group. It soon got dark and everyone headed out to bed, having a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long while; but in the middle of the night, Echo quietly unzipped the tent she was bunked with Carol and Sophia and grabbed her machete that was lying on the table with her two 9mm guns and Compact Cruiser. She strapped her machete to the small of her back and was about to head out.

"Where are you going?" the gruff voice called out.

Echo looked up and saw that it was Daryl sitting on top of the Winnebago, must be on watch just in case any walkers came by.

"I was going back to my site" Echo answered calmly.

"So you're leaving?" Daryl questioned, climbing down to stand in front of her.

"No; Sophia asked me to stay, so I need my stuff" Echo answered, her face blank.

Daryl nodded and Echo started to walk off, but she only walked a few paces before she stopped and looked back, seeing that Daryl was right behind her with his crossbow on his shoulder.

"You don't have to come" Echo said, her face still blank.

"There are more of those things after dark" Daryl stated.

"It's ok, I'll be back soon"

"I wasn't asking for your permission!" Daryl said in a firm voice. Echo looked at him for a bit before smiling a little.

"You didn't need my permission; I just didn't want to put you through the trouble, but if you want to come, it's your decision" Echo soon started to walk off again and Daryl followed.

They walked through the woods for what seemed like a long time, and they didn't run into any walkers on the way. It was quiet between them, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as it was, but kind of peaceful. Then when Echo stopped and looked up, Daryl looked up as well and saw that there were some bags hanging from the branches.

"How do you sleep?" Daryl questioned.

"It was difficult when you try not to fall off," Echo explained as she started to climb the tree, "But if you lean against a branch and tie yourself to the tree, you won't fall, but it's only a little uncomfortable; but it was a little hard for Sophia"

Daryl looked around as he listened, then he heard a thud and looked to see Echo throwing her bags down to the ground, then when she grabbed her backpack, she started to climb back down. When she landed on the ground, Nuna came running and started to rub against Echo's leg, meowing a lot.

"Nuna, did you follow us?" Echo questioned.

She reaching into the pocket of her backpack and pulled out a bag that was filled with what looked like fish, and then fed some to the cat. After she fed the cat, Echo picked her up, then grabbed one of her duffle bags and when she was about to grab her second one, Daryl picked it up.

"You won't be able to carry it" Daryl stated, strapping the bag to his shoulder.

"Thank you" Echo said with a smile, and then they started to walk back. While walking, Daryl took a glance at Echo and saw that she was staring at him with a smile.

"What?" Daryl questioned.

"I was thinking how nice you are" Echo said, and then looked forward.

"You just met me"

"Yeah, but Carol told me that out of everyone in the group, you tried your hardest in looking for Sophia, even when you got hurt" Echo informed.

"I don't think she really needs to tell people that" Daryl said a little rudely, but Echo wasn't fazed by it.

"But it's true; while I was with Sophia, she remember that she dropped her doll by a lake and I went to go look for it" Echo explained, and Daryl looked at her as she told the story, "and when I arrived at the place where she said she dropped it, I only saw two of those 'walkers' dead and I saw some blood, then I heard someone shout 'Yeah you better run!'" Echo then looked at Daryl, "It was only when I realized that it was you when I brought Sophia back; the only way I found my way to the farm was because I followed you"

"You followed me?" Daryl questioned, wondering how he didn't realized that he was being followed.

"Yeah, I saw that her doll was strapped to your belt and I figured that you must have known her, and I wanted to make sure you got back safe; I freaked out when you got shot, but I was relieved to see that you were still alright" Echo answered honestly. Echo looked forward and a smile formed on his lips, "You should have seen Sophia when I told her if she was ready to go home, she was so happy"

Daryl allowed himself to smile a little too and they continued to walk back to the farm in silence again. Once they made it to the farm, Daryl and Echo placed her bags outside of Carol's and Sophia's tent and Echo let Nuna in first and she turned to Daryl.

"Thanks for helping me, have a good night" Echo said and went inside.

"Night" Daryl soon went back to the Winnebago and climbed to the roof for watch.

**Done, I hope you liked it, next one will come soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, for future chapters, so that I don't have to keep writing the same thing over and over, I'm gonna leave a few things out of the episodes while writing the chapters either so it's just about Echo or to keep the chapters short**

It was a bright day and everyone sat around the camp as Carol and Echo cooked breakfast, Sophia and Carl were playing with Nuna with a cat toy wand, Andrea was sharpening her knife against a grater, Shane ate alone near a tree, Lori and Rick sat close to each other, T-dog was near the fire pit with Daryl behind him and Glenn was sitting a little farther away, feeling uneasy. He looked at the house and saw Maggie standing on the porch, who shook her head, then he looked at Dale and he nodded his head. Glenn then stood up and stood in front of everyone.

"Um, guys" Glenn said uneasily and most people turned their attention to him "So… Barn's full of walkers"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him with alarm, hoping what he said wasn't serious, but his face said otherwise. Everyone soon stood up and walked towards the barn and just stood a few feet away, then Shane took it upon himself to take a further look, he looked in the cracks to get a clear view, then he stepped back and stomped towards the group.

"You cannot tell me you're alright with this?!" Shane questioned Rick.

"No I'm not; but we're guests here, this isn't our land" Rick answered.

"Oh god, this is our lives man!" Shane shouted.

"Lower your voice" Glenn advised.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug" Andrea stated.

"We either got to go in there, we got to make things right, or we just got to go, now we've been talking about Fort Benning for a long time" Shane said.

"We can't go!" Rick said.

"Why Rick, why?" Shane questioned.

"Because this is the best place we can get, we don't know about what's happening at Fort Benning, it could be the same as the CDC" Rick answered.

"Well we don't know that, we have no reason to stay here, we have Sophia now; why else should we stay?" Shane questioned.

"Just let me talk to Hershel, let me figure it out" Rick said.

"And what are you going to figure out!" Shane shouted angrily, talking steps towards Rick, but Echo tried to keep a distance between them.

"If we're going to stay, if we're going to clear this barn, I have to talk him into it; this is his land" Rick said.

"Hershel sees those things in there as people, sick people; his wife, his-his stepson" Dale informed.

"You knew?" Rick questioned.

"Yesterday, I talked to Hershel" Dale said.

"And you waited tonight?" Shane questioned.

"I thought we could survive one more night, we did; I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one" Dale said.

"That man is crazy Rick, if Hershel thinks there alive, they're not!" Shane shouted.

Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound and banging noises and every turned to see the doors pushing and creaking and everyone stepped back away from it. Shane decided to check the security of the barn while everyone just walked away and try to relax.

"Why is Hershel keeping the walkers in his barn?" Sophia asked, trying to keep her nerves down.

"I don't know" Carol answered.

"It's because he loves them" Echo answered, almost half of the group turned to look at her, "He cares for them and he just want to keep them safe, even if he knows they're dangerous, he just doesn't want any danger to come to them"

Sophia seemed to understand a little, but everyone else didn't understand and they just brushed her off. Lori and Carol then sat down with Sophia and Carl to do some school work; even if it was the end of the world, they still had to keep their education up.

"How do you like it here so far?" Carl asked Sophia.

"I really like it, it's so beautiful" Sophia answered.

"Yeah, I'm hoping we can stay, make it our home" Carl prayed, showing a small sad smile.

"Yeah, I'd like that too" Sophia answered.

Carol and Lori exchanged looks and just continued their lesson. While Echo was pumping some water, she spotted Daryl with a saddle and he looked like he was struggling, so she followed him to the stalls and watched as he placed the saddle on a metal rack.

"Should you really be straining yourself?" Echo questioned, walking towards him with the bucket of water and offered him some.

"I'm fine" Daryl grunted, taking a few sips.

Echo reached forward and lifted his shirt, though he tried to brush her off, she still managed to lift his shirt and took a look at his wound, it was still wrapped in gauze.

"Placing strain on your wound won't make it heal faster and it'll take longer for you to recover" Echo advise, pulling his shirt back down.

"I don't care" Daryl said.

"Well I do, everyone does; why do you think no one cares?" Echo asked.

"Stop thinking you know me, just leave me be!" Daryl shouted and stormed off. Echo just sighed and left where she came in, while she walked back to sit in the RV to relax, she passed by Rick.

"Where're you going?" Echo asked.

"I'm going to try and convince Hershel to let us stay" Rick answered.

"Ok, good luck" Echo said with an encouraging pat on the shoulder and walked away. Rick soon walked to the house and knocked on the door.

"Come on in!" Hershel called from the table, eating a lunch and reading the bible. Rick walked in and moved towards the dining room.

"Little light reading for lunch?" Rick asked.

"Been working so hard lately, I get my studying where I can" Hershel answered.

"You know we can help you out with your work" Rick offered.

"It's my field to tend" Hershel denied.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds.

"We found the barn" Rick confessed.

"Leave it be" Hershel said.

"Well I'd like to talk about it, but either way, you barn, your farm, your say" Rick said.

"I don't want to talk about the barn, I don't want a debate" Hershel said.

"It's not a debate, it's a discussion" Rick corrected.

Hershel stopped eating and turned to Rick.

"I need you and your group gone by the end of the week" Hershel said, then took a sip of his drink and continued to read.

"I talked to Dale, you and I have our differences, the way we look at the walkers, those… people; they may be dead, they may be alive, but my people, us, we are alive, right now, right here, right in front of you. You send us out there, that could change"

"I've given you safe harbor, my conscious is clear" Hershel took another sip and continued to read, but Rick pulled a chair out and sat down, hoping to have a firm discussion.

"This-this farm is special, you've been shielded from what's been going on out there; Dale said you saw everything that's happen on the news, well, it's been a long time since the camera stopped rolling"

Hershel gathers his plate and glass and made his way to the kitchen, and Rick followed him.

"First time I saw a walker, it was just half a body snapping at me from the ground, and my inclination wasn't to kill it; but what the world is out there isn't what you saw on TV, it is much, much worse and it changes you. You're either one of them or something a lot less than the person you were, please do not send us out there again" Rick begged, but Hershel remained quiet, leaning against the sink counter.

Rick walked a few paces away and tried to keep calm.

"My wife's pregnant" Rick confessed and Hershel looked at him. "That's either a gift here or a death sentence out there… if we were to stay, we could help you, with the work, with securing this place, we can survive together"

"Rick, I'm telling you we can't"

"Just think about what you're doing"

"I thought about it"

"Think about it!"

"I thought about it!"

"Think about it again, we can't go out there" Rick soon left Hershel to think about it.

The day continued by, though not much to do but relax since Sophia came home, but they still had to watch out at the barn and Rick was just sitting on his car alone, just think about what should be done if Hershel was to send them away. Rick sat on the hood of the car for a few minutes when Hershel came out to him.

"Rick" Hershel called out. Rick looked up and had some hope in his eyes.

"I thought about it for a while, if you follow my rules and help me out with something's, I'll let you stay" Hershel said, and when Rick was about to stay 'thank you', Hershel stopped him and continued to speak, "But I need your help with something first"

Hershel soon lead Rick down the road. While things were going down out of the farm, Echo was sitting up on top of the Winnebago with Glenn, reading a book and relaxing when Shane came by and looked in the RV and made a lot of noise.

"What is he doing?" Echo whispered. Glenn just shrugged his shoulders and continued on look out, and then Shane came back out.

"You see where he went?" Shane questioned.

"Who" Glenn asked.

"Don't even try to shit me ok" Shane said.

"What?" Echo questioned, wondering what's gotten into him.

"Dale, Glenn, you see where Dale went?"

"Yeah, he asked me to run and get him some water, said he cover me on watch" Glenn explained.

"And he was gone when you got back huh?"

"Yeah? You think he's ok?"

"He's fine"

"Why'd he bail then?"

"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went"

"I don't get it"

"No man, you don't" Shane soon stormed off in the direction towards the woods, leaving the two on top of the RV confused.

"Glenn, can I tell you something?" Echo asked, looking at Glenn with a small worried look on her face.

"Yeah, shoot" Glenn said and sat back down.

"I feel something… like something bad is going to happen" Echo confessed.

"In a world like this, something bad always happens"

"No Glenn, with Shane" Glenn looked at Echo with a confused look. "I feel like he's going to cause something, I'm not trying to accuse or be rude since I just got here, but I feel like I don't trust him"

"I know that Shane has been doing some extreme things, but he's doing it for the best for the group"

"I know, but it's starting to scare me" Glenn stood up and walked to sit beside of Echo and wrapped his arm around her to comfort her.

"Everything will be alright, even if the barn is full of walkers, this place is secure and we're all trying to start a new life here" Glenn comforted.

Echo looked at Glenn and smiled, then gave him a hug. Once the hug was over, Echo climb down from the RV and walked over to Carl and Sophia, who was playing Nuna. After a while, almost everyone gathered to sit around the porch and Carl and Sophia sat down with Beth and Patricia and Echo spotted a guitar sitting near the corner.

"Is that a guitar?" Echo asked, lightly touching the strings.

"Yeah, it's mine" Glenn answered.

"I know a few cords; do you mind?" Echo asked.

"That would be nice, hearing some music" Beth said.

Echo carefully picked the guitar up and sat down in a nearby chair and positioned her fingers, once she was ready, she played soft simple cords, over and over again, and it brought smiles to everyone's faces. While everyone was relaxing, T-dog and Andrea came by.

"Do you know what's going on?" T-dog asked.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked.

"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn asked.

"He went off with Hershel" Andrea answered. Echo stopped playing the guitar and placed it back in the corner and everyone gathered around.

"What's going on?" Carol asked as she walked behind of Daryl.

"Rick went somewhere with Hershel" Andrea answered.

"Then where's Dale and Shane?" Daryl questioned.

Echo looked behind him and pointed and everyone turned to see Shane walking towards them with the bag of guns around his shoulder.

"What's all this?" Daryl questioned.

"With me man?" Shane questioned, handing Daryl a shot gun.

"Yeah" Daryl said as he grabbed the gun.

"Time to grow up; you already got yours?" Shane asked Andrea.

"Yeah; where's Dale?" Andrea asked.

"He's on his way" Shane answered, "Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe, but no we know it isn't" Shane then grabbed another gun from the bag and handed it to Glenn, "How about you man, you're gonna protect yours?"

Glenn looked at Maggie, then grabbed the gun.

"Can you shot?" Shane asked Maggie.

"Can you stop" Maggie said, "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight!"

"We have to save Shane" Carl said.

"What is this?" Lori questioned as she came from around the house.

"We're not going anywhere, ok; now look, Hershel, he's just got to understand, ok, well he's just gonna have to" Shane said, then he pulled out a hand gun and tried to hand it to Carl. "Now I want you to take this, you take it Carl and you keep your mother and Sophia safe, you do whatever it takes, you know how, now take the gun and do it" Shane ordered.

"Rick said no guns, this is not your call, this is not your decision to make" Lori said as she placed Carl behind her for protection.

"Oh shit!" T-dog shouted.

Everyone soon looked to where he was looking and saw Jimmy coming out and Hershel and Rick were leading two walkers on a leash. Soon Shane started to run off and then everyone started to follow.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shane questioned furiously once he got to them.

"Shane just back off!" Rick said.

"Why do your people have gun?" Hershel questioned.

"Are you kidding me?! You see what they're holding onto?!" Shane said, still in a rage.

"I see _who _I'm holding onto!" Hershel said.

"No man, you don't see!"

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk!" Rick said.

"What do you want to talk about Rick?! These things aren't sick, they're not people, they're dead! Ain't got to feel nothing, cause all they do, they kill! These things right here!" Shane shouted, "They're the things that killed Amy, they killed Otis, they're gonna kill all of us!"

"Shut up!" Rick shouted.

"Hey Hershel man, let me ask you something, would a living, breathing person, do they walk away from this?" Shane said as he pulled his gun and started to shoot at the woman the Hershel was holding.

"Stop it!" Rick shouted.

"Three rounds to the chest, someone whose alive, could they just take that, why is it still coming?!" Shane questioned as he started to shoot at the woman again. "That's its heart, its lungs, why is it still coming?!" Shane started to shoot at the woman again.

"Shane, enough!" Rick shouted.

"Hey, you right man that is enough" Shane said and walked up to the woman and shot her in the head, bringing her down with Hershel to his knees.

"Enough, living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough, Rick it ain't like it was before!" Shane shouted, "Now if yall want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it, I'm talking about fight, right here, right now!" Shane then ran towards the barn and grabbed the pick axe that was next to the door.

"Hershel, take the stick, Hershel!" Rick shouted as he tried to hand the stick to Hershel, but he seemed to be in shock.

Rick was shouting to try and stop Shane from what he was doing, but he started to hit the lock with the pick axe. Echo ran forward and grabbed onto the axe to try and stop Shane, but he threw her off and she tumbled across the ground pretty hard.

"Echo!" Sophia shout and ran out of Carol's arms and to Echo's side.

Carol and Daryl were soon by her side as well and saw that Echo was knocked out cold. Shane continued to hit the lock until he broke it and took the board off, and then he started to hit the door to attract them out and got into stance. Soon the walkers came out one by one, then the people with the guns stood beside of Shane and started to shoot at them, and each one went down. Hershel, Maggie, and Beth watched in horror as all they're family, friends, and neighbors were being shot and killed. And soon, the nightmare was over.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone was quiet after the disaster, not know what to do, but then they started to hear crying and everyone turned to see Beth in tears and then she pulled out of Jimmy's arms and started to walk towards the dead walkers bodies. She kneeled down next to a woman's, who seemed to be her mother, and pulled the dead man on top of her off and she turned the woman's body on her back.

But then she started to move and growled at Beth, then she grabbed her and tried to bite her and Beth screamed. Soon everyone ran to try and help to get Beth away and when they got her away, Andrea grabbed the pick axe and rammed it trough the woman's head. Once that was over, Beth was crying in Hershel's arms and Jimmy and Maggie soon lead them inside.

"We need to get Echo in the RV" Sophia said, still by Echo's unconscious body.

"Ok, we'll try to move her" Carol said.

"I'll help" Daryl volunteered, and then he moved Echo so he can pick her up.

He was surprised by how light she was, she barely weighed anything, then he walked to the Winnebago with the two trailing behind and laid her on the bed.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Sophia asked worriedly as she sat by Echo's side.

"Let's hope soon" Carol said, sitting by her side as well and held Sophia.

Daryl decided to leave the RV and see what was going on with Hershel; when he arrived at the farm house, he saw Maggie hit Shane.

"Don't touch him!" Maggie yelled, "Haven't you done enough?"

Soon, the Greene family was heading inside, but Hershel turned to the group.

"I mean it," Hershel said, "Off my land"

Then he headed inside and shut the door, leaving the group in distress, but Glenn went inside to check on Maggie.

"What were you thinking?" Rick questioned, but Shane ignored him, "Hey, what were you thinking?"

"We couldn't take the chance of letting Hershel and his family _collect _a bunch of walkers" Shane argued.

"He opened his home up to us when we were just strangers!" Rick shouted.

"He put us all in danger, he kept a barn full of walkers"

"So you just started an insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?"

"His families dead Rick"

"He doesn't believe that, he thinks you just murdered them!"

"No man, I don't care what he thinks!"

"I was handling it!"

"You weren't handling it, you were helping it; Rick, you're just as delusional as that guy" Shane soon walked off, leaving Rick behind.

After a little while, the skies were starting to darken with clouds and the wind picked up, and everyone was wondering what they should do with the bodies. Glenn thinking that they bury Maggie's stepmother and stepbrother and everyone agreed to that. Rick and Shane soon came down to the barn with everyone else and they walked past Dale and Carl and Rick placed his old sheriff's hat on Carl.

"Hey you dropped that"

Lori stood up and everyone gathered around.

"Want us to start burying?" T-dog asked.

"We need a service, I'd think Hershel, Maggie, and Beth would want that" Andrea suggested.

"Let's dig a grave for Annette and Shawn, uh, over by those trees" Lori suggested, pointed over a little ways behind the barn, "And we need a truck to move the bodies"

"I'll get the keys" Jimmy said, but Shane blocked him.

"No, I got the truck" Shane said and walked off.

"And the others? That's a lot of digging" Jimmy wondered.

"We bury that one that we love, we burn the rest" Andrea informed.

"Let's get to work" Lori said. Soon everyone walked off to prepare and Lori and Rick walked together.

"What did Hershel say?" Lori asked.

"…He wants us off the farm, or Shane at least" Rick answered.

"It's not a surprise" Lori sighed.

Shane soon made it to the truck and he saw Dale sitting on one of their cars, giving him a look, and he scoffed and got in the truck and slammed the door, but he turned the rear view mirror to look at him and he was giving the same look. Shane opened the door and sat to the side, leaning his arms against his knees.

"You got something to say Dale?" Shane questioned, "Well go ahead man, just a moral authority huh? You the voice of reason?"

When Dale didn't answer, Shane got more mad and got out of the truck and stormed towards Dale.

"Let me ask you something man; what do you do? What do you do to keep this camp safe huh? What do you do?" Shane questioned, his voice raising a few levels, "You fix up an RV, you babysit some guns; man, you pointed one at my chest right, but you just, you couldn't pull that trigger could you?" Dale continued to remain silent.

"If I was such a danger, if I was such a threat, what did you do to stop me huh? I smashed that barn open, I saved Carl; that's me, that ain't you, that ain't Rick, that's me!" Shane soon started to walk back to the truck. "Tell you what Dale, next time I need a radiator hose, I'll give you a call man"

Shane got in the truck and slammed the door, started the car and drove off. Everyone soon moved the two bodies to the trees and started to dig their graves, once that was done, everyone gathered around for the service, but Sophia wanted to stay with Echo to make sure that if she woke up, she would be there. Soon after, everyone walked off in different directions, not saying a word and not give a glance or look.

Andrea and T-dog went to work moving the bodies to the truck so they could burn them, and it took a long while, but they managed to gather all the bodies and drove off to a far off field. While that was happening, Glenn was inside with Maggie, talking about that if his group leaved, would he stay with her, but while they were talking, Beth suddenly collapsed in the kitchen. Glenn and Maggie moved Beth to her room and it looked like he was in some kind of state.

"Sweetie, can you hear me?" Maggie tried to call out to her, then Lori came in when Glenn told everyone, "What's wrong with her?"

"She might be in shock, where's Hershel?" Lori asked.

"We can't find him anywhere" Glenn answered. Soon, Lori, Shane, Rick, Glenn, and Maggie were in Hershel's room, looking at some things and try to figure out where he went.

"Your stepmother's thing?" Rick asked as he looked through her clothes in the bags.

"He was so sure she'd recover" Maggie said.

"Looks like he found an old friend" Shane said as he tossed Rick the flask.

"That belonged to my grandfather" Maggie said as she looked at the flask, "He gave it to dad when he died"

"Well I didn't take Hershel for a drinker" Rick said.

"No, he gave it up on the day I was born, he didn't even allow liquor in the house" Maggie stated.

"What's the bar in town?" Rick asked.

"Hatlands, he practically lived there in his drinking days" Maggie answered.

"Then that's where I'll find him" Rick said.

"Yeah, I've seen the place, I'll take you" Glenn offered.

"All right, I'll get the truck" Rick said and was about to leave the room with Glenn, but Maggie stopped him.

"No" Maggie said firmly.

"It's an easy run" Glenn said.

"Like the pharmacy" Maggie reminded.

"Hey Maggie, I'll bring him back" Rick comforted.

As he left the room, Lori and Shane followed and they had a small argument, but Rick walked away anyways and prepared as he and Glenn got ready to leave. After some time, Lori and Dale came out of the farm house.

"This place is going to hell" Dale sighed.

"Yeah, trying hard not to prevent that" Lori groaned.

"You won't be able to; there are people in this group who think that what Shane did was justifying"

"I know you two can't stand each other, but he did summon what needed to be done"

"He's dangerous"

"Yeah, he's a hothead"

"No Lori, he's dangerous… I think he killed Otis"

Lori stopped and looked at Dale with a confused look.

"Otis was killed by walkers"

"He knew how to handle walkers, Otis was the one who was putting them in the barn"

"You need to be really clear with me right now, what are you saying?"

"I believe that Shane sacrifice Otis; I can't prove it, but I think that he shot him left him for bait so he could get away"

"Shane may be a hothead, but he's not a murderer; and why would he kill someone who's trying to help?"

"I don't know, maybe he was pinned down, he said it, he all but threw it in my face; I'm telling you, I knew guys like him, and sooner or later, he's going to kill somebody else, you saw what he did with Echo"

Dale soon walked off, ending the conversation and just went out for watch to just think to himself. The day continued to go by and everybody was still finishing or doing what was needed to be done. Andrea, T-dog, and Shane burned the bodies out in the field; Maggie was inside with Jimmy and Patricia tending with Beth, Rick and Glenn went out to look for Hershel, and Sophia and Carol were still inside with Echo in case she woke up. It was starting to get a little dark now when Daryl came in to check on them and saw that everything was still the same, except now Nuna was sleeping above the pillow that Echo was laying on.

"Why don't y'all go and get something to eat" Daryl suggested.

"But what if Echo wakes up" Sophia protested.

"He's right sweet heart, we've been here almost all day, let's get some food" Carol said.

Sophia stayed quiet before sighing, then she and Carol soon left to get some food and Daryl sat by Echo's side. Daryl sat by her side for a while and he just started to mess with his hunting knife, getting a little bored.

"My head hurts" a soft voice whispered.

Daryl stopped and turned to see Echo rubbed her head. Echo rubbed her eyes and turned her head, when her eyes opened, she didn't seem surprised to see Daryl there, but then she turned her head to look at the ceiling.

"Is everyone ok?" Echo asked.

"Yeah, we shot them all" Daryl answered.

Echo didn't say anything, but her eyes downcast and she sighed quietly and brushed a strand out of her eyes; everything was quiet for awhile.

"You mind telling me what the hell you were thinking?" Daryl questioned in a firm tone. Echo looked at him and her eyes were still a little sad, but she knew what he was talking about.

"It was an impulse" Echo simply answered.

"So it's an impulse to act like a dumbass!" Daryl yelled with a strong glare. Echo chuckled a little, but there was barely any humor in it.

"If that's what people are calling it now, then yeah, I guess" Daryl looked confused, then Echo smile vanished and she shifted to her side.

"Don't blame Hershel" Echo suddenly said.

"Don't blame him! He kept a bunch of those walkers in his barn and he had two more on the way, everyone's lives could have been in danger if Shane hadn't done what needed to be done! You're more of a dumbass bitch than I thought you were!" Daryl yelled.

Echo wasn't fazed by what he said, and that pissed him off even more.

"I know I shouldn't agree with what Shane did, but I guess it was right" Echo started, not moving from her position, "But I'm saying not to blame Hershel for what he was doing"

"And why is that?!"

"Because I was in his shoes once"

Daryl was a little shocked by what she said, and then she started to tell her story.

"Before all of this happened, down two houses from the house where I lived, was a seven year old girl, Riley. Her mother was always at work and her dad left before she was born; I met her when she accidentally fell off her bike in front of my house and I helped her. Riley was such an open, kind girl, and real smart for her age, and such a spunky attitude; she said that she was more close to me than she has been with anyone in her whole life" Echo told, her voice was starting to sound distant as the story continued.

"Riley always stuck to me, always said that I was a kind person, always shared her thoughts, her feelings with me, and always told me what was going on with her life. Though she was always alone, she had such a happy go-luck attitude and always had a smile on her face" Echo gripped the sheets as she finally got to the end of her story. "When the outbreak occurred, I was in another state for my friend's college graduation, the news broad casted about the outbreak, about people dying, but didn't stay dead, and showed people eating each other and others shooting them and killing them. The first thing that struck through my head was Riley; was she alright? Were those things going to get her? Was she going to turn like those things? I just rushed home, not thinking about anything else, not thinking about myself. It took me forever, and when I got to my street, it was deserted and wrecked with cars and some bodies. I rushed to Riley's house and searched everywhere, then when I got her room, she was standing there, but it wasn't her" Echo's throat was closing up and she tried her best not to let her tears fall.

"She had a chunk missing from her arm and her face looked so gray, blood covered her clothes, and she was making these weird noises; then she suddenly attacked me, she tried to bite me, but I managed to close the door. I knew that I had lost Riley, but I had hoped that if this was a disease, there would be a cure, like Hershel had hoped for; so for months, I kept Riley locked in her room, never opened the door, always slept by it, just wanting to be near her. Then one day, when I went out to search for some food, I came home and went to Riley's room to check on her, but when I reached her room, the door was open and I saw Riley on the floor, blood was spilling from her head and I saw that she was dead for good. I felt like I was lost, as if I was in the dark and there was no light, I never left her side, I even felt like killing myself because she was the only person that I felt like I could have fun with, such happiness. But when I thought back on our time together, I knew that I should just keep going, keep having and giving the kind of happiness that me and Riley had together. I tried so hard to help other people so they wouldn't feel such a distress that I had felt with Riley"

Echo sighed and pushed some of her hair out of her face, her eyes looked sad and she didn't shed a single tear. Nuna got up and started to rub her face against Echo's and she picked the cat up and stood up straight, holding the cat close.

"Nuna's the only thing that connects me with Riley, she had her since she was a kitten" Echo said.

"I thought you said you found her in a dumpster" Daryl said, his voice a lot softer than it was before.

"I did, she must have ran away and hid when the world went to hell, I felt happy to know that I still had a connection to Riley, Nuna's just like Riley" Echo whispered. Things were quiet for a bit before Echo stood and walked past Daryl, but took a look at him.

"I don't care what the group thinks with me siding with Hershel about this whole 'walkers in the barn' thing, I knew what he was thinking, and I know what they're feeling now"

Echo was about to walk away, but then Daryl grabbed her arm, she didn't look at him, or struggled to get out of his grip, but he decided to talk anyways.

"Look, I'm sorry about calling you a dumbass bitch, and for what happened in the stalls" Daryl apologized.

"It's ok, I took no offense, I don't get mad that easily" Echo sighed, still not looking at him.

"Will you be alright?" Daryl asked.

Echo slowly turned to him, then she smiled a little, then she surprised Daryl by hugged him, he's never been hugged before, so it was new to him.

"I'm just as surprised as you are" Echo said, chuckling a little. Daryl just awkwardly patted her back, finding the hug to be a little comforting. Echo pulled out and started to walk towards the door.

"Thank you" Echo said, and then left the RV. Daryl stood there for a while before leaving the RV as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone was soon gathering the dinner table and setting the food and plates, then Andrea and Shane came in.

"They should have been back by now" Andrea said.

"Yeah, but they could be hold somewhere" Shane said as he sat down in the chair, "We'll head out first thing in the morning"

After the food and plates were set, Echo came in and Nuna was right behind her.

"Echo!" Sophia cried out in happiness and ran into her arms.

"Hey there," Echo said, rubbing Sophia's head, then looked at the table, "Food smells good"

Echo took a seat beside of Sophia and everything seemed to be a little tense. Even Shane looked a little edgy when she came in, but then he spoke up.

"I'm sorry for pushing you so hard" Shane apologized. Echo looked at him, but she just smiled.

"It's ok, you did it for the group, and you didn't mean to knock me out, so we're cool" Echo confirmed. Shane smiled and soon started to eat a little.

"Besides" Echo sighed, leaning her elbows on the table and pressed her fingertips together, "I'll be getting my revenge"

Everyone looked at Echo with a surprised look, but she couldn't keep a straight face and laughed and soon everyone started to laugh as well. Shane looked at Carl and saw that he was smiling, but he looked a little distress.

"Carl, I want you to keep you head up ok, your old man, he's the toughest son of a-"

"No cussing in the house" Patricia said firmly.

"Sorry" Shane apologized.

"He got told" Echo whispered to Sophia and Carl and they laughed a little.

"Lori, dinner!" Carol called out.

"She's not in there" Maggie told.

"Where is she?" Dale asked. Everyone looked at each other, a little worried now.

"Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked.

"This afternoon" Carl answered.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl" Andrea informed.

"She went after him?" Dale questioned.

"She didn't say that" Andrea said.

"Nobody panic, got to be around here somewhere" Shane said and got up from his chair.

Soon, everyone got up from the table and went out to search, hoping that Lori was alright. Echo went to search for Daryl since he didn't follow her to the farm house, she knew which direction he went, but it took her awhile to actually find him; she saw that he set up a campfire.

"Lori went missing, and the others aren't back" Echo said.

"Dumb bitch must have gone off looking for them" Daryl said.

"What?"

"Yeah, she asked for me to go, told her I was done being an errand boy"

"So you let her go off and didn't tell anyone?" Echo questioned, her voice getting a little firm.

Daryl didn't say anything and just poked at the fire. Echo continued to stand there, not saying anything either, but Daryl turned to look at her and her face was blank, showing no anger, or frustration, or any kind of emotion and it pissed off Daryl again.

"Just go!" Daryl shouted. Echo sighed and soon left.

"She's not at the barn" Shane said as he walked towards the group.

"I checked the yards" T-dog said.

"Where is she?" Carl asked, getting real worried.

"She asked Daryl to go into town, but he refused, so she must have gone into town by herself" Echo said as she approached everyone. Carl looked like he wanted to cry now.

"Hey" Andrea said, trying to comfort him, but he ran off, "Carl!"

"Did you know about this?" Shane asked Dale.

"No"

"Look, did she take a gun?" Shane asked.

"I don't know; I wouldn't let her go out there alone" Dale said.

"Lori's smart, I think she would have taken a gun for protection" Echo said.

Shane stormed off to his car, got in and drove off down the road. Sophia followed Carl to see if he was ok.

"Carl" Sophia said softly. Carl didn't say anything, he didn't he look at her; then Echo came up and kneeled down to Carl's level and turned him around so he could look at her.

"Carl, everything will be alright, Shane will bring you mother back and your father will return home, Rick is a strong person and so is Lori, they can handle anything, everything will be fine" Echo encourage.

Carl then wrapped his arms around Echo's neck and tried his best not to cry loudly, sniffing every now and then; Echo hugged him back and rubbed his head to comfort him. Echo then lead Carl and Sophia in the house so they could try and relax, while everyone stood outside to wait for Shane. After a while, everyone saw Shane's car pull up and everyone got up and ran towards his car, Echo, Sophia and Carl came running outside as well; then Shane and Lori got out.

"Oh my god, are you alright? What happened?" Andrea asked as she saw blood on her forehead.

"It was an accident, I'm fine, I'm fine" Lori said, "Where's Rick?"

Shane walked away when she asked this question and nobody said anything.

"They're not back?" Lori then looked at Shane, "Where are they?"

"Look, I had to get you back here" Shane said. Everyone continued to remain quiet, and then Lori stomped towards Shane.

"You asshole" Lori said as she tried to hit Shane, but he held her back.

"Lori, I will go after him, I will find him; hey, now first things first, I got to look after you, I got to make sure the baby's alright" Shane said.

Everyone seemed a little surprised and shock by what he said, and Lori looked pissed.

"You're having a baby?" Carl questioned, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lori tried to answer, but she couldn't find the words, everything was still quiet, but the silence didn't last long.

"Come on, let's make sure you're alright" Dale said.

"Come on" Andrea said as well and lead Lori to the house.

Dale, Andrea, Carl, Sophia, and Echo sat in the room next to Beth while Maggie checked on her.

"Hey," Lori said, turning to Carl, "I am so sorry, that I left without telling you"

"It's ok" Carl said, "I wasn't scared; when's dad getting back?"

"Let's hope soon" Lori said.

"I wanna be there, tell him about the baby" Carl said.

"He already knows, we were just trying to find the right time to tell you"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We won't know that until it's born"

"Will I be able to feel it?" Carl asked as he pressed his hand against Lori's belly.

"Not for a while; you must have a lot of questions huh? We never had 'the talk', I guess we forgot"

Carl looked at Lori before leaning over to look at Dale.

"Don't look at me, that's your father's job" Dale said. Echo chuckled quietly; Carl nodded in understanding.

"What are you going to name the baby?" Sophia asked.

"I don't know, there are so many names, but we'll have to wait till the baby's born to pick one" Lori answered.

"Hey dude" Shane said when he came in the room, "Hey I'm sorry bud, k, I thought you knew"

"Big brother Carl" Carl said with a laugh as he tipped his hat up, "Pretty cool huh?"

"I say that's very cool" Shane said, laughing a little as well, "You mind if I talk to your mom a sec?"

"How about a little later after she's had some rest" Andrea suggested.

"Lori, I had to get you back here, you wouldn't have come otherwise" Shane said.

Everyone was quiet, not sure what to say, or if they should say anything, then Shane stepped forwards and leaned against the back of the couch.

"How about you just here me out, please, it's ok"

"You give me a minute?" Lori asked Carl. Carl nodded and everyone stood up to leave.

"Come on Carl, Sophia, let's get some rest, it's pretty late" Echo said as she lead the two to their bedrooms.

Everyone soon headed to bed, feeling a little tired after tonight; Daryl came back to the campsite to grab his hunting knife, and when he passed by a tree, he saw a foot dangling from the leaves. When he took a closer look, he saw that it was Echo, lying down against the branch, using her arms as a pillow. He hit her boot and her eyes started to open and she looked down to see him, then she closed her eyes again.

"What are you doing?" Daryl questioned.

"I'm sleeping" Echo answered groggily.

"In a tree?"

"Yeah, after I put Sophia and Carl to bed, Sophia wanted me to sleep beside her, but I told her that the bed was too small, so I went to sleep in the RV, but I passed this tree and decided to sleep here; besides, I slept in a tree before, so I don't mind"

"Whatever" Daryl scoffed and walked away.

"Goodnight" Echo called out to him.

Daryl stopped for a second to look back, but soon turned and walked back to his campsite. In the morning, Shane, Daryl, T-dog, and Andrea were preparing to go after Rick, Glenn, and Hershel, since they didn't return last night. But just as they finished packing the trunk, a car drives up, and everyone recognizes that it was Rick's and Glenn's car.

Everyone then comes running towards the car and the people in the house came out when they heard the car. Rick, Glenn, and Hershel get out of the car and Lori and Carl run to Rick and hug him tightly, happy to have him back home. Then Maggie comes running, but she passes Hershel and runs into Glenn's arms, but he brushes her off, looking distress.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery" Hershel said as he walked into the house.

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked.

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick asked when he saw a small cut on her forehead.

"I was in a car accident" Lori confessed.

"Accident, how?"

"I went looking for you"

"Rick, who's that in the backseat?" Echo asked when she saw another figure in the back. Everyone turned and saw that there was another person in the back.

"That's Randall" Glenn answered.

"Is he ok?" Echo asked as she walked towards the window to get a better look at him, and soon everyone else was gathering around as well.

"We'll explain in the house" Rick said.

Everyone soon gathered in the house and stood around the dining room table as Rick explained the whole story about what happened in town.

"We couldn't just leave him behind, he would have bleed out; if he lived that long" Rick said.

"It's gotten bad in town" Glenn said.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked. Hershel soon came in, "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, he'll probably have nerve damage, he won't be on his feet for at least a week"

"When he is, we'll give him a canteen, take him out to the main road and send him on his way" Rick said.

"Isn't that same as leaving him for the walkers" Andrea said.

"I agree with Andrea, we can't just leave him by himself, Hershel said he'll have nerve damage, and he won't be able to defend himself if we just gave him a canteen" Echo added.

"He'll have a fighting chance" Rick said.

"You just gonna let him go?" Shane questioned, "He knows where we are"

"He was blindfolded that whole way here, he's not a threat" Rick said.

"Not a threat; how many were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain't just gonna come looking for him"

"They left him for dead, no one is looking"

"We should still post a guard" T-dog suggested.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours" Hershel said.

"You know, I'm just going to him get some flowers and candy" Shane said sarcastically and left the room, "Look at this folks, we're back in fantasyland"

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet" Hershel said, stopping Shane before he left, "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all, this is my farm, now I wanted you gone, Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, so do us both a favor, keep your mouth shut"

Shane looked at Hershel before he left, leaving the tense room in silence, the Rick walked up to him.

"Look, we're not gonna do anything about it today, let's just cool off"

Soon, everyone was leaving the room, not sure what to do now after what was happening. Most of the group was talking about what they should about Randall.

"What do you think they'll do with that man?" Sophia asked as she and Echo sat in the RV.

"I don't know, they'll do what they think is right for the group" Echo answered, scratching Nuna's ear.

"What do you think?" Echo staying quiet for a bit, not knowing what to think, but she spoke what she was thinking.

"I think they shouldn't, even if he was shooting at them, they still rescued him, and his team left him there for the walkers; they'd be doing the same thing as Randall's team did to him, but my opinion probably wouldn't matter, Rick and Shane are like the leaders, so they make the decisions for the group"

"Yeah, I don't think that would be good either, but I'm a kid, no one really listens to kids"

"If you give a good argument, they'll listen to you; why don't you go play with Nuna, you're too young to be stressing" Echo said and handed Nuna to Sophia.

Sophia soon left the RV and Echo sighed and leaned against the chair, wishing that she wasn't stressing so much about this.


	5. Chapter 5

The week had passed and Randall was healed, Rick and Shane had soon tied him up and took him 18 miles out, leaving the others to rest for the day. Lori was helping take care of Beth, who was finally calming down after the whole disaster; Lori took Beth a tray of food.

"Knock knock" Lori said as she came in. Lori sat the tray on the side table and Beth sat up.

"How 'bout this, you eat up all your food and we'll get you out of here and take a walk, what do you say?" Lori suggested, "You did good to be outside"

Beth stayed quiet for a while, then she spoke, "You're pregnant, how could you do that?"

"I don't really have a choice" Lori said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work and Beth stayed quiet.

"You think it'll make a difference?" Beth questioned.

"Of course it will, you eat something" Lori said, then left.

After an hour went by, Lori went back up to check on Beth and she noticed the untouched plate.

"Didn't eat a thing huh?" Lori said.

Lori looked at Beth and saw that she was crying, then she stood by the side of the bed and kneeled down.

"I know how hard it is, I tried for days to-"

"It's just so pointless" Beth interrupted.

"You have Maggie, and your father, Patricia and Jimmy, and you got to stay strong for them" Lori encouraged, "I wish I could promise you it'll be alright in the end, I can't, but we can make now alright, and we have to"

Beth stopped crying and turned to look at Lori, "Thank you"

"I'll be right back and we'll go take that walk" Lori said, taking the tray back downstairs.

As Lori was clearing the tray, she then noticed that the knife was missing; when she realized what was going on, she rushed back upstairs. She saw Beth lying down and she looked around to try and find it.

"You give it to me sweetheart" Lori said, "You don't want to do this"

Beth soon handed Lori the knife and she took it; Lori rushed downstairs and headed outside, running towards the RV where Andrea and Echo were sitting on top.

"Andrea, Echo, have you seen Maggie or Hershel?" Lori asked.

"Haven't seen Hershel, but Maggie and Glenn walked by maybe twenty minutes ago" Andrea answered.

"Can you find her for me, I got to get back to the house" Lori said, then ran back to the house.

"I'll go" Echo offered and climbed down the RV and ran.

Soon Maggie and Echo came running back and Andrea followed, Lori informed them what had happened and Maggie ran upstairs while the others stayed in the kitchen. They heard a lot a yelling while they waited.

"Where's Hershel?" Andrea asked.

"Maggie didn't want him to find out yet, it's a family affair" Lori said as she ate a cucumber, "Let them work it out"

"That's working it out?" Andrea questioned.

"When Beth stops fighting, it's time to worry" Lori said.

The yelling continued and it was getting a little louder.

"Poor Beth" Echo whispered.

"This could have been handled better" Andrea said.

"How so?" Lori asked.

"You shouldn't have taken the knife away" Andrea said.

Lori stopped and looked at her like she was crazy, "Really?"

"You were wrong, like Dale taking my gun, that wasn't your decision; she has to choose to live on her own, she has to find her own reasons"

"Want me to tie a noose for her" Lori mocked as she placed the plate in the fridge.

"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way"

"Doesn't mean that I can't stop her, or let her know that I care"

"That has nothing to do with it Lori, she only has so many choices in front of her, and she believes the best one is suicide"

"That's not an option"

"Of course it is, she doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child"

"She needs a loaded gun right? You won't understand if I send you in there"

"I came through it"

"You became such a productive member of the group, let Maggie handle this her way"

"I contribute, I keep this place safe"

"The men can handle this on her own, they don't need your help"

"I-I'm sorry, what would you have me do?"

"Oh, there's plenty of work to go around"

"Are you serious, everything falls apart, you're in my face for skipping laundry"

"Puts a burden on the rest of us, on me and Carol, and Patricia and Maggie, cooking and cleaning, and caring for Beth; you don't care about any but yourself, you sit up on that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap"

"I am on watch against walkers, that is what matters, not fresh mint leave, and a lemonade"

"You're not providing stability, we are trying to create a life worth living"

"Are you kidding me!"

"Look, I went after Rick, took down two walkers, don't act like-"

"You crash Maggie's car, ever apologized for that" Andrea interrupted.

"Crashing hurt, you're insane"

"No, you are, and you're the one who's self-centered, the way you take it all for granted"

"My husband is out there for the hundredth time, my son was shot, don't you dare tell me I take this all for granted!"

"You don't get it do you, your husband came back from the dead, your son too, and now you got a baby on the way; the rest of us have piled up our loses, me, Carol, Beth, but you just keep on keeping on, playing house, acting like the queen bee, laying down rules for everyone but yourself; you know what, go ahead, go in there and tell that little girl that everything's going to be ok, just like it is for you, she'll get a husband, a son, baby, boyfriend" Lori turned to look at her with anger in her eyes.

"She just has to look on the bright side" Andrea finished, then walked off.

Lori watched her go and Echo didn't know what to do. After some time passed, Maggie was still in Beth's room, then a knock came and Andrea opened the door.

"Hey" Maggie greeted.

"You can't sit on top of her" Andrea said.

"I can't leave her by herself"

"You're gonna have to" Maggie shook her head.

"You're exhausted, go get some air, I'll sit with her" Andrea offered, "Go ahead, get washed up, get something to eat, I got it"

Maggie looked back at Beth and then nodded, then she left; Andrea stepped into the room, closed the door and sat down in the chair, it was quiet for a bit.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Beth questioned.

Andrea shook her head, then she stood up and opened the door from the other side of the room.

"Is this what you want?" Andrea asked. Beth didn't say anything. "The pain doesn't go away, you just make room for it" Andrea said, then left.

Once Andrea left the room, Echo came in from the other door and Beth looked at her.

"What?" Beth asked, wondering what she was going to say. Echo came in and sat down on the bed, looking Beth right in the eyes.

"I know how you feel" Echo said.

"…How?"

"I've been through the same thing, except it was with a neighbor, a little girl who I grew close to, we were so alike, but she was much braver than I was at her age, I thought the same things that your thinking. But then I thought of our time together, how happy I was, and I thought that I should continue to live so that I could tell the story of this strong little girl" Echo said, then she began to tell the story of Riley, Beth shed many tears during the story.

"But I'm not that strong" Beth cried.

"You are strong; I'm not here to change your mind, we all have different solutions to painful problems, though I managed to get through with my decisions without this kind of solution, you do what needs to be done, what you think is right, I won't tell you otherwise; and if you go through with it, I'm glad to have met someone like you" Echo said.

Echo gently gripped the sides of Beth's head, then leaned forward and gave a kiss on her forehead, then she got up and left the room.

After Maggie calmed down, she came back into the room and found it empty, anxiety shot through her body.

"Beth!" Maggie heard crying coming from the bathroom and she went to the door. "Beth"

Broken glass was heard and Maggie frantically tried to get the door open.

"Beth!"

"Maggie" Lori said as she came into the room.

"She's in there, I heard glass!"

"Beth, you alright?"

"Don't do this Beth, don't do this, open up please!" Maggie pleaded, then started to search through the desk, "I left her with Andrea"

"Where's the key?"

"I don't know" Lori looked around and saw a fire poker and grabbed it, then used it to pry it open; Beth turned around, holding her bloody wrist.

"I'm sorry" Beth cried.

Maggie rushed in and held her tightly, then she lead her out the room and went to find Hershel. After a while, Andrea and Echo came running towards the house and Maggie and Lori came out.

"Where were you?" Maggie questioned angrily.

"I heard, is she alright?" Andrea asked.

"She would be if you stayed with her, where were you?"

"How bad is she?"

"It wasn't deep" Lori answered.

Andrea sighed with relief, "She wants to live, she made her decision"

"She tried to kill herself!"

"No she didn't"

"My father's stitching her wrist right now!"

"She'll live" Andrea tried to go inside, but Maggie blocked her way.

"Stay away from her" Maggie hissed, "From both of us, don't you dare step foot inside this house again"

Andrea looked at Lori, then she walked off; Echo decided to go inside to check on Beth. Echo made it to the kitchen and saw Hershel stitching Beth's wound; she walked over to them and placed an arm over her shoulder. Beth looked up, her eyes still watery, then she leaned into Echo and she hugged her as Hershel finished up her stitching; after Echo helped put Beth to bed, she went out to find Andrea. After looking around the camp, she check the RV and saw Andrea sitting at the table, she turned when she heard Echo come in.

"She's sleeping now" Echo told, taking a seat across from Andrea.

"Ok" Andrea said, then she turned her attention out the window.

It was quiet for a bit, and Echo was staring at Andrea and she took it the wrong way.

"What do you want?!" Andrea snapped. Echo didn't flinch, but she smiled a little.

"You do just as much as the men, don't let others tell you otherwise" Echo said.

Andrea looked at her with a little confusion, "How come you don't join in?"

"Because I like doing some chores around here"

"But you're good with a gun and knife, why do you stick with doing house work?"

"I don't like killing, even if it's walkers, I think of this as a vacation from the violence, but when they need help, I'll take the field"

Andrea and Echo stayed quiet for a bit, then Echo spoke again.

"Andrea, can I ask you something? This is up to you, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" Echo said.

"Shoot"

"Can you tell me… about Amy?" Echo asked. Andrea stayed quiet for a bit, giving her a blank stare. "Like I said, it's up to you if you want to talk about it, I just thought I asked"

"No, it's ok, I'll tell you" Andrea said with a small smile of her own.

Andrea told almost everything she knew about Amy, all the likes and dislikes, the problems they had together and the time they spend together, the distress of losing her and what she felt. Echo comforted Andrea when it was need and they grew close.


End file.
